Recent Reports

Real Medicine Foundation has been active in Nigeria since 2006, first working to provide pediatric care to the estimated 15,000 young children living in the shantytown of Makoko in Lagos State. Supported by World Children’s Fund (WCF) and in partnership with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee, we then began working to improve access to primary health care in one of the most remote areas of Nigeria: the community of Gure in Kwara State.

Gure is located near Nigeria’s border with the Republic of…

Since 2006, Real Medicine Foundation, supported by World Children’s Fund (WCF) and in partnership with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee, has been working to improve access to primary health care in one of the most remote areas of Nigeria: the community of Gure in Kwara State. Gure is located near Nigeria’s border with the Republic of Benin, and before RMF’s arrival in 2006, its only health center, Gure Model Health Centre, had been abandoned. RMF helped reopen, improve, and support the Gure Model Health…

Real Medicine Foundation has been in Nigeria since 2006 helping to ameliorate the situation, and our healthcare initiative continues to focus on Gure, a community in Kwara State with an estimated population of over 30,000 people. Until mid-2015, RMF supported the improvement and operation of Gure Model Health Centre, and in October 2016, we shifted our focus to health outreach. We provide free clinics and education sessions primarily for women, children, and the elderly. Through these outreach clinics, RMF aims to reach underserved, vulnerable community members with education, primary health care, maternal, and child health care.

RMF’s health…

Background:

Real Medicine Foundation, supported by World Children’s Fund, has partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee to support the previously abandoned Gure Model Health Center. Situated near the Nigeria/Benin Republic border, the clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government Area and its surrounding towns. Patients even cross the border from the Benin Republic to seek treatment at the clinic.  Nigeria has the 4th lowest survival rate of children under five out of 191 countries,…

Background:

Real Medicine Foundation, supported by World Children’s Fund, has partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee to support the previously abandoned Gure Model Health Center. Situated near the Nigeria/Benin Republic border, the clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government Area and its surrounding towns. Patients even cross the border from the Benin Republic to seek treatment at the clinic.  Nigeria has the 4th lowest survival rate of children under five out of 191…

Background:

Real Medicine Foundation, supported by World Children’s Fund, has partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee to support the previously abandoned Gure Model Health Center. Situated near the Nigeria/Benin Republic border, the clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government Area and its surrounding towns. Patients even cross the border from the Benin Republic to seek treatment at the clinic.  Nigeria has the 4th lowest survival rate of children under five out of 191…

Background:

Real Medicine Foundation, supported by World Children’s Fund, has partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee to support the previously abandoned Gure Model Health Center. Situated near the Nigeria/Benin Republic border, the clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government Area and its surrounding towns. Patients even cross the border from the Benin Republic to seek treatment at the clinic.  Nigeria has the 4th lowest survival rate of children under five out…

Project Background:

Real Medicine Foundation, supported by World Children’s Fund, has partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee to support the previously abandoned Gure Model Health Center. Situated near the Nigeria/Benin Republic border, the clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government Area and its surrounding towns. Patients even cross the border from the Benin Republic to seek treatment at the clinic.  Nigeria has the 4th lowest survival rate of children under five out of…

Project Background:

Real Medicine Foundation, supported by World Children’s Fund, has partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee to support the previously abandoned Gure Model Health Center. Situated near the Nigeria/Benin Republic border, the clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government Area and its surrounding towns. Patients even cross the border from the Benin Republic to seek treatment at the clinic.  Nigeria has the 4th lowest survival rate of children under five out of…

Project Goal:

Real Medicine Foundation, supported by World Children’s Fund, has partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Youth Service Corps and the Gure Gwassoro Ward Development Committee to support the previously abandoned Gure Model Health Center. Situated near the Nigeria/Benin Republic border, the clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government Area and its surrounding towns. Patients even cross the border from the Benin Republic to seek treatment at the clinic.  Nigeria has the 4th lowest survival rate of children under five out of…

Project Goal:

Upgrade of the existing clinic and managing of the clinic according to RMF's global standards, improving hygiene, function and safety as well as standard of medical operations; restore community faith in clinic’s operations.

Photo: A group of newborn babies with their mothers. These babies have been delivered in our facility and are now waiting to receive routine immunization.

Project Objectives:  

Photo: Women attending maternal and child health presentation at the Gure Clinic

Project Goal:

Upgrade of the existing clinic and managing of the clinic according to RMF/WCF’s global standards, improving hygiene, function and safety as well as standard of medical operations; restore community faith in clinic’s operations.

Project Objectives:

Project Goal:

Upgrade of the existing clinic and managing of the clinic according to WCF/RMF’s global standards, improving hygiene, function and safety as well as standard of medical operations; restore community faith in clinic’s operations.

Project Objectives:

Summary of RMF-sponsored activities carried out during the reporting period under each project objective (note any changes from original plans):

Results and/or accomplishments achieved during this reporting period:

In recognition of his work in forging a partnership between Real Medicine and the Nigerian Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Dr. Ufuoma Ejughemre was awarded with the President's NYSC Honor Service award on December 6th in Abuja, Nigeria.

Dr. Ufuoma was posted to the clinic in Gure during his Nigerian Youth Service corp 1 year medical posting. All doctors in Nigeria participate in the NYSC's medical volunteering program for one year before there residency at a hospital. The majority of the clinics that NYSC manages are in very rural/underserved areas of Nigeria which are happy to…

RMF/WCF’s presence has continued to strengthen the faith in the Gure Clinic. Health care provision is being continuously improved; continued focus on the improvement of relationships between the community and all involved parties.  The Gure Model Health Care Clinic is the only access to healthcare for a population estimated at 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government area and surrounding towns.  Patients from The Republic of Benin continue to cross the border to Nigeria for treatment at the Gure Clinic. 

The new interior of the clinic provides a more hygienic setting for health care and has set an example…

Our site visit to the Gure Clinic in Nigeria was carried out successfully in late May and was a great chance to see the progress achieved of this pilot program for Nigeria.

After several introductory meetings with the Commissioner and Deputy of the Ministry of Health for Kwara State, and the Kwara State President of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) we set out to see the clinic. Setting off very early in the morning and driving for 5 hours from the nearest city of Ilorin, made one realize just how remote and underserved some of the communities…

The Gure Model Healthcare Clinic Initiative has continued to strengthen and improve its facilities and services over the past few months. The clinic is currently the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government area and surrounding towns. Patients from the Republic of Benin also continue to cross the border for treatment at the Gure Clinic.

Over the past three months the clinical upgrade has continued with the goal of improving the hygiene, function and safety of the existing clinic and restoring the community’s faith in its operations. The new interior of…

The Gure clinic, situated near the Nigerian/Benin Republic border, is the only access to healthcare for a population of 154,376 in the Baruteen Local Government area and surrounding towns. Access to healthcare in the region is so scarce, some from the Benin Republic even cross the border to come for treatment. Although the clinic activity varies depending on the weather and access to the health center, on average 80 patients are seen per day.

The goal of phase one of our clinic upgrade is to improve hygiene, function and safety of existing clinic and restore community…

Lagos State: While Coker/Aguda is still in need of a long-term health care center, RMF has chosen to implement its first Primary Health Care Project in Gure, Baruten, L.G.A. Kwara State, a rural area of extreme poverty where there is a dire need for more comprehensive health care. Central to RMF’s success is leveraging existing clinics, familiar with the local demands, yet requiring support to fully optimize its function and leverage its presence.

After a thorough review of the situation in Lagos State and surrounding areas, we determined that the Gure, Model Health Care Clinic was…

As Nigeria Project Director, I traveled to Nigeria on a fact finding trip from September 3rd – 15th. While there, the goal was to evaluate the feasibility of establishing RMF’s pilot health care clinic in the Aguda/Coker area of Lagos, in partnership with Afodise, a local NGO, and the Lagos State Government (see July guidelines for more details).

During the trip, we were able to connect with our contacts at Afodise and Lagos State Government to begin moving the project forward. We finalized the community in which we would establish the clinic, Coker Village in…

Overview

We are refocusing the Nigeria project and exploring establishing the first clinic at a new site, in the Aguda neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria. The area is a good potential site because it is a densely populated, low income area with no access to primary health care. Also, the neighborhood is located within the city of Lagos, allowing for ease in logistical planning and execution for the free clinic.

The population to be served is approximately 100,000. Most of the residents are predominately poor and few would classify as low income earners. It is a high…

CHSS received certificate of incorporation from the CAC in August. Dr. Osin Sunday & Dr. Dotun Ogunyemi – two RMF volunteers visited Lagos in December. Dr. Sunday met with our team on ground, held discussions on RMF accounting system and took some pictures of the proposed site for the clinic. Dr. Ogunyemi discussed the framework of the project with our team members. He also met with the Lagos State Commissioner for Health. The Commissioner expressed interest in our project and seconded Dr. Jagun from the ministry to help us on the project and invited us to take part in…

We already scheduled a meeting with all of Makoko Community for Saturday September 30th, 2007.

It's "Hurrah" for Team Nigeria in April, as the Federal Ministry of Health supported our application for the registration of Complete Health Support Services (CHSS) – the representative of RMF in Nigeria. The approval letter is below.

We are also fortunate to have secured the services of a Project Coordinator, who will organize our efforts on this project on site. The Project Coordinator understands the local language, she is familiar with the area our project is sited and is passionate about working with the community. She will be responsible for reaching out to the community…

We met with the community leaders and introduced them to the proposal of RMF.

As expected, it was a great occasion for them which was evidenced in the warm reception accorded us. It was really really great! In the company of Mrs. Balogun we kept an earlier appointment and for about 3 hours had discussions and interactions after which we arrived with the following:

The makoko community is highly delighted about the news of RMF.

The community is in dire need of such projects for which RMF is known.

The community is ready to partner…

The project Restoration of the Free Clinic for Children in the Makoko Slum, Lagos, Nigeria is starting to gain momentum. We have attracted the interest of Dr. Nkem Ndionuka of Nigeria, Ms. Pei-hsuan Tsai, a nurse in Cambridge, MA, and Mrs. Bukky Balogun, a lawyer working with the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, who are also enthusiastic to see the project come alive. Dr. Nkem and Mrs. Bukky will be visiting the Makoko slum's elders, to introduce the plan and hope to receive their whole-hearted welcome to bring such a life saving service to the community's children. Dr. Nkem…

Background:

Makoko is a teeming shantytown in Lagos State. It has an estimated population of 50,000 people, the majority of who live in wooden huts built on stilts sunk into the dark waters of the Lagos lagoon. Makoko waterside inhabitants are mainly fishermen, who go out to fish in the night and stay indoors during the day, while the women take the fish to sell in the market or to dry. The maximum family income is about $50 dollars a month. The vast majority lives on less…